“Tell the World of His Love”
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:16-17)
The sending of the Son, Jesus Christ, by the Father is the foundation of our Christian concept of Mission. Jesus reveals God as a loving Father, whose desire is to save and not to condemn. However, there is another view that we should consider in order to understand more what Mission is. Mission also reveals humanity as Jesus’ own home, as children loved by the Father in the Son. In other words, Jesus’ incarnation, God’s sending of His only-begotten Son, is a two-fold revelation – a revelation of who God is and who we are.
Jesus’ becoming man, reveals a God who is not distant from humanity but one who is with us, among us, in solidarity with humanity, especially the poor and little ones. This is easily understood in how Jesus worked out his mission in identification with men and women in their specific life conditions, their longings, sufferings, failures and hopes.
In line with this sublime view, we, being part of Jesus’ Church whose primordial character and identity is missionary, need to be serious in our response to the task which we have promised to God during our baptism. This task is none other than Evangelization, the proclamation of God’s Kingdom.
But, the question is: how are we going to carry out this magnificent task?
The mission of the Church rests on proclaiming by witness of life, word, relationships and structures, God and God’s reign. This proclamation does not solely focus on God but must include, as an indispensable component, the message about what humanity is all about. Mission work must not be placed side by side with our idea of going to different far-flung territories proselytizing, but must be put in the context of entering into the so-called human space. This is the true concern of mission, entering into human lives, walking with the people as Christ did, owning the people’s thirsts, hunger and longings in life.
Being an authentic Christian is validating our baptismal promises. We should never be afraid of the challenge of our baptism. To be a missionary is to be like Jesus, emptying oneself in order to tell the world of God’s Love.
The sending of the Son, Jesus Christ, by the Father is the foundation of our Christian concept of Mission. Jesus reveals God as a loving Father, whose desire is to save and not to condemn. However, there is another view that we should consider in order to understand more what Mission is. Mission also reveals humanity as Jesus’ own home, as children loved by the Father in the Son. In other words, Jesus’ incarnation, God’s sending of His only-begotten Son, is a two-fold revelation – a revelation of who God is and who we are.
Jesus’ becoming man, reveals a God who is not distant from humanity but one who is with us, among us, in solidarity with humanity, especially the poor and little ones. This is easily understood in how Jesus worked out his mission in identification with men and women in their specific life conditions, their longings, sufferings, failures and hopes.
In line with this sublime view, we, being part of Jesus’ Church whose primordial character and identity is missionary, need to be serious in our response to the task which we have promised to God during our baptism. This task is none other than Evangelization, the proclamation of God’s Kingdom.
But, the question is: how are we going to carry out this magnificent task?
The mission of the Church rests on proclaiming by witness of life, word, relationships and structures, God and God’s reign. This proclamation does not solely focus on God but must include, as an indispensable component, the message about what humanity is all about. Mission work must not be placed side by side with our idea of going to different far-flung territories proselytizing, but must be put in the context of entering into the so-called human space. This is the true concern of mission, entering into human lives, walking with the people as Christ did, owning the people’s thirsts, hunger and longings in life.
Being an authentic Christian is validating our baptismal promises. We should never be afraid of the challenge of our baptism. To be a missionary is to be like Jesus, emptying oneself in order to tell the world of God’s Love.
posted by Veritas at 6:57 PM
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